Planning director for Savills in Oxfordshire David Bainbridge explains the race between two southern Oxfordshire councils and the Government over housing need. It’s going to be one to watch.
Consultation closed recently on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system, with reportedly thousands of responses received by Government.
This consultation sought views on revisions to national planning policy intended to achieve sustainable growth and wider policy proposals in relation to increasing planning fees and local plan intervention criteria.
Among the consultation is a proposed new method for calculating local housing need named the Standard Method.
This is intended to provide the minimum number of new homes each local authority in England must plan for, through preparation of a Local Plan for their area.
The aim of Government is to see delivery of 1.5 million new homes over five years.
Under the Standard Method, the county of Oxfordshire, comprising five Local Plan-making authorities, is set to see increases in house building, prompting a reaction at the local level.
South Oxfordshire District Council and the Vale of White Horse District Council are working together on preparation of a new joint Local Plan, which is intended to cover the period to 2041.
At recent meetings, these councils decided to launch consultation on the new joint Local Plan with housing targets based on the soon-to-be-replaced method of calculating local housing need. In effect this is about getting ahead of the pending changes from Government.
The councils could have chosen to delay progress on the new joint Local Plan until a later date, once the national level changes are brought in, but they decided this would require largely restarting the whole Local Plan process, which would cost significant time and money.
No further new homes are included in the new joint Local Plan to accommodate any newly identified unmet housing need from Oxford city.
The Oxford City Local Plan 2040 currently faces an uncertain future following correspondence from the planning inspectors appointed to examine this emerging new plan.
In its response to the consultation by the Government, South Oxfordshire District Council has stated it does not support the changes proposed in respect of calculating local housing need, preferring instead to allow flexibility where there are important local circumstances that justify an alternative approach.
Government intends to publish the new national planning policy by the end of this year, which is the same timescale that the councils are aiming to have formally submitted the new joint Local Plan for examination.
This is a race, between central and local government, that will be worth following.
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